Ultimatum !!! Help with tank !

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
DANG! Get some other water conditioner from some other source. Post results of ammonia test on your tap water.

It's gotta be one of 3 things.
1. LFS refill prime is bunk and it's not removing anything.
2. Tap water has ammonia in it.
3. There's NO BB colony at all in your filters, so those big fish are putting out ammonia and there's no BB there to clean it out--which could be possible cause your nitrate levels are really low, too. Lower than my tank with a drip system, which is pretty low to my mind.

So if we see "0" ammonia in your tap water test that you're about to post, and we know that a new bottle of prime from some other source doesn't help, then that leaves 3.

Am I thinking right?
 
Nah, Nah. Don't let the prime conditioned ammonia reading throw you off. RD can explain this better, BUT--

As I recall from one RD's posts, chlorine is broken down to ammonia by Prime, and that ammonia shows up on a water test. But Prime breaks that ammonia down into some compound that is not "free", it's bound to some other element, and is inert even though a test kit can still measure it.

So that's why people say a water test is inaccurate up to 24 hours after adding prime.

I'd say condition your tank water with the new Prime you got from Petsmart, and let's see if that helps.

Do you ever see Nitrate readings higher than "0" on this tank?

Pataphysicist said:
Those were the results from the water coming inside the tank. Now these are the results from water straight from tap into test tube .

2.2 PPM Ammonia / 0 Nitrite / 0 Nitrate / 7.0 PH

Now, i grabbed a container, Filled it with tap water. Conditioned it with prime that i just purchased of Petsmart. It read 8.0 PPM + Ammonia .. am so confused what the heck is going on..
Click to expand...
 
ragin_cajun said:
Nah, Nah. Don't let the prime conditioned ammonia reading throw you off. RD can explain this better, BUT--

As I recall from one RD's posts, chlorine is broken down to ammonia by Prime, and that ammonia shows up on a water test. But Prime breaks that ammonia down into some compound that is not "free", it's bound to some other element, and is inert even though a test kit can still measure it.

So that's why people say a water test is inaccurate up to 24 hours after adding prime.

I'd say condition your tank water with the new Prime you got from Petsmart, and let's see if that helps.

Do you ever see Nitrate readings higher than "0" on this tank?
Click to expand...


My nitrate is always been 0 / Nitrite 0 / Ph ranges from 7.0 - 7.5. The ammonia reading is the one thats always been 5.0 - 8.0//
 
But none of this occurs in the other tank? Can you post test results from the 75?
 
Nitrate should creep up above 0 at some point. With big fish in that tank, you should have some nitrates. If you don't ever see nitrates, I have to doubt that you have a BB colony converting ammonia to Nitrite, Nitrite to Nitrate.

That's why I put that 3rd possible cause in there. I saw the pic of the fish in your tank, figured them big boys MUST cause some high nitrates, but then I saw "0" nitrates in your water test pic. Didn't seem right to me.

Let's see what RD or Aquanero have to say....
 
ragin_cajun said:
Nitrate should creep up above 0 at some point. With big fish in that tank, you should have some nitrates. If you don't ever see nitrates, I have to doubt that you have a BB colony converting ammonia to Nitrite, Nitrite to Nitrate.

That's why I put that 3rd possible cause in there. I saw the pic of the fish in your tank, figured them big boys MUST cause some high nitrates, but then I saw "0" nitrates in your water test pic. Didn't seem right to me.

Let's see what RD or Aquanero have to say....
Click to expand...

U saw the pictures and readings for yourself, i have no clue how to deal with this anymore. Is why i jumped in here looking for answers . :/
 
Hello; So it is ammonia at 8.0. Now the health issues with the fish can be understood. In a cycled tank the beneficial bacteria ((bb) colonies use the ammonia in their metabolism and in that way remove it. Without going back several posts to see, I do not recall how long the problem tank has been running. At any rate in a cycled tank the population of bb should increase to use the levels of ammonia present and eventually find a dynamic balance. If the tank is running for months then the balance should be had unless some significant change has occured. Have you added a lot of fish lately or made some other change such as in feeding? Can anything that would kill off bacteria been added to the tank?

It also seems that you have a different tank that is running with no ammonia issues. Is this correct?
There should be plenty of beneficial bacteria in that tank and you should be able to transfer some bb from it into the troubled tank. This raises a question. The second tank is likely using the same source water for water changes with no problems. Is this correct? Two tanks using the same change water and only one having the issues.

I also seem to recall you posting that you have not done much to the biomedia in a while. If the issue cannot be found in the tank, another place to look is in the filter system.

My first impression seeing the picures of the tank was a lot of fish mass for the size tank. I also think you said that you fed generously. I think of such a tank as a tightrope tank, it does not take too much to throw things out of balance. A dead fish somewhere unseen. Something in the filter. I have found critters in my tanks and filters, usually bugs. They get into the water and die.

One last thing comes to mind. Could someone have put something in the tank? I have known of such things being done.

Sorry for the troubles with the fish. I fear that the high ammonia has already done damage.

Good luck
 
0 Nitrates on your 75 gallon too.....I don't ever see "0" nitrates on my tanks. I have a tank with drip system, and it reads close to "0", but it ain't 0.

Tell me if this makes sense. You got a bad batch of prime refill from you LFS. Not realizing it, you did a water change or two with tap water, but because the refill prime was bunk, the chlorine/chloramine in your tap water sterilized your bio-media, so you don't have any BB in either of your tanks.

The big tank is having much worse problems because there's much bigger fish in there. The smaller tank has smaller fish, less ammonia output, but still enough to show up on your test kit. You're probably doing weekly water changes on both tanks? The bigger tank is closer to overstocked, the "tight rope" concept applies, it's seeing worse effects form higher ammonia levels. The 75 is having the issue, too. It just isn't as hard on the fish because the bio-load of the fish is MUCH lower.
 
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